Apple building Amazon Echo competitor, will open Siri to third-party apps — [Report]
The virtual assistant revolution is ushering in the next era of search.
Topic: Virtual assistant
Google says 20 percent of mobile queries are voice searches
Voice search growing as virtual assistant market heats up.
Meet Google assistant: A new search platform, rather than a gadget or an app
Think of it as Google 2.0. Google assistant is Google's search smarts put into anything, no keyboard needed & conversations welcomed.
With help from Alexa, Kayak debuts voice-enabled travel search on Amazon Echo
Users can search for flight, hotel and rental car information -- but not yet book.
Son of Siri: Viv aims to go way beyond today’s digital assistants
Viv hopes to effectively supersede Google as "an intelligent interface to everything."
Understanding intent through voice search
Bing and Google are looking at the future of search, and both are seeing a future that involves search engines as the intelligence platform powering digital assistance with daily life — personalized help that enables people to get more done efficiently and spend real time focused on what they care about most. Today’s digital assistants, […]
MindMeld Launches Voice Assistant 2.0, Says Voice Search Growing Dramatically
San Francisco-based Expect Labs, which previously positioned itself as a kind of “Google Now in a Box” or “Siri in a Box” for third-party developers, has changed its name to MindMeld. The company is also launching a second generation of its technology, which it now describes as a “platform for creating large-scale language-understanding and question-answering […]
SearchCap: Overstock’s Google Decline, Google Search Console Severity Label & Offline Google Maps
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Offline Search & Turn-By-Turn Navigation Come To Google Mobile MapsNov 10, 2015 by Greg Sterling Earlier this year, at Google’s May developer conference, the company announced that Google Maps search and […]
Study: Siri Beats Google Now, Cortana In Performance & Overall Satisfaction
Contrary to some industry perceptions, Siri is apparently not the virtual assistant laggard, but the leader. That’s according to a hands-on user study conducted by Expert Exchange. Siri beat Google (Now) and Cortana in overall user satisfaction and across a number of specific tasks. Amazon Echo was not part of the study. While the number […]
Amazon Echo Now Offers Local Search With Help From Yelp
Voice assistant offers basic business information via audio, additional details in its mobile app.
Baidu Upgrades Mobile Virtual Assistant With Local Commerce Services
Baidu has upgraded its mobile virtual assistant to incorporate voice-enabled local transactions. The virtual assistant, powered by artificial intelligence, is now known as “Duer.” That apparently translates as “Du Secretary.” One translation of the word “du” I saw was “to study, to learn.” Phonetically, it also sounds like the English word “do,” as in to […]
Look Out Siri, Google Now & Cortana, Facebook M Wants To Be Your Digital Assistant
The social network is experimenting with a service within Messenger that it believes will make better recommendations than its rivals. M will even complete tasks for people.
Cortana For Android Is Officially Available For Download In US Beta
A month ago, Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana became available for download in a pre-beta release. Now, an official US beta version of Cortana for Android is here. An iOS version is coming soon. The full Cortana experience and functionality are available to Windows 10 and Windows Phone users. But because Cortana for Android doesn’t access […]
Google’s iOS App Now Provides Context-Aware Conversational Search
Google recently updated its iOS app to bring context-aware searching to any content within search results. It allows searchers to ask additional questions without formulating entirely new queries. Here’s how Google explains the functionality in the app update description: Say “Ok Google” and ask a question while on any Web page to get smart answers about what you […]
Cortana For Android Available For Download Ahead Of Official Launch
A few days ago, Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, became available for download. This is not the official launch, and it’s not clear the software is ready for all Android devices. It certainly didn’t function properly on my Nexus tablet. Several people have already written about it, and it appears to be fully functioning for some. […]
Apple Boosts iOS 9 Intelligence With Proactive Siri, Expanded Search & In-App Deep Linking
In announcing some of Siri’s new “proactive” capabilities yesterday at WWDC, Apple’s Craig Federighi said the company was “Enhancing how you use your device but without compromising your privacy.” A not-so-indirect swipe at Google, this approach also suggests limitations out of the gate. Federighi discussed a cluster of “intelligent” enhancements to Siri and search intended […]
SearchCap: Google Buy Now, Cortana & Apple Coherent Navigation
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Uber Teams Up With Baidu For HERE Maps, Apple Buys More Coherent Navigation HERE mapping unit could fetch more than $4 billion in new bidding war. When Google’s In Your Brain: […]
For Task Completion, Cortana Now Integrates More Deeply With Apps
Third party app developers can now integrate content into the Cortana UI.
Google Now To Get API So All Developers Can Integrate Their Content
With third party content Google Now becomes much more useful.
Report: Microsoft’s Cortana Coming To iOS, Android This Fall
Reuters is reporting that Microsoft is getting ready to make Cortana, its digital assistant, available on Android and iOS as an app. This possibility was first raised in a Microsoft SMX Advanced keynote conversation last year. The Reuters article also discusses a Cortana-linked, artificial intelligence project called “Einstein.” At the time of SMX Advanced Microsoft […]
Bing: It’s Unlikely That We’ll Take Search Share Away From Google
Microsoft’s Director of Search admitted this week that Bing isn’t likely to put a significant dent in Google’s search market share. Stefan Weitz appeared Tuesday at the Web Summit conference in Ireland, where he told attendees that Bing instead wants to focus on making its search technology an important part of mobile apps and other […]
Google (Now) Beats Siri And Cortana For Direct Answers — Study
Stone Temple Consulting (STC) published a study in which it compared mobile answers to “3086 different queries” on Siri, Google and Cortana to determine how each performed relative to the others. Google was the winner with more direct answers and more complete information. Eric Enge, who wrote up the results, says this was not a “personal assistant […]
Cortana Coming To Windows 9, Will It Replace Bing?
Next week in San Francisco, Microsoft will unveil Windows 9 for the press. Among the features of the new OS is reportedly going to be the virtual assistant Cortana. A range of sites are repeating some early evidence found by a German site, and also a discussion on Neowin, that assert Cortana will be a central feature […]
Cortana Expands To Other Markets, Becomes “Xiao Na” In China
There’s increasing evidence that Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana is being positioned as a key differentiator vs. Android and iPhones. A new TV commercial (below) purports to compare Cortana to Siri, with a mock Siri voice saying “I can’t do that” a number of times. This morning Microsoft announced new geographies and new features for Cortana […]
Life With Cortana, Microsoft’s Predictive Search Challenger To Google Now & Siri
Microsoft’s new predictive search agent Cortana is finally becoming available to the general public. How does it compare to longstanding champion Google Now? After months of using them both, it’s no contest. Google Now easily wins, in my daily life. But Cortana does gives Microsoft an important foundation in the predictive search space and puts […]
SearchCap: Bing + Twitter, Foursquare Fees & Okay Google
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Ups Its Twitter Game: Rolls Out Hashtag & Twitter Handle Search Features Starting this week, Bing users are going to see even more Twitter content in search results. As a […]
Microsoft: No Plans For Ads In Cortana Yet; Debating Bringing To Androids & iOS
It’s far too early to consider monetizing Cortana, Microsoft’s new virtual personal assistant, but the company is already thinking about how to scale her across different devices, platforms and around the world. Those were two of the key points from Microsoft’s keynote conversation Thursday morning at our SMX Advanced conference in Seattle. Marcus Ash, a […]
Microsoft’s SMX Advanced Keynote: Cortana Makes People More Likely To Search
We’re ready to get started on day two of SMX Advanced, and today’s opening keynote promises to talk about the future of search. Microsoft’s Marcus Ash (Group Program Manager for Windows Phone) and Rob Chambers (Group Program Manager, Applications and Services Group) will be here to talk about Cortana, the company’s recently launched virtual assistant […]
Part Siri, Part Google Now: Microsoft Announces “Cortana” Virtual Assistant
Rumored for months, Microsoft has formally announced its answer to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Voice Search/Google Now: Cortana. Danny Sullivan is at the Microsoft Build Conference and live blogging it. Cortana appears to be sassy like Siri and can perform many of the functions that Google Now does (providing reminders and notifications regarding dates, meetings and […]
With iOS 7, Siri Drops Google For Bing, Also Gains Twitter Search
Apple’s new iOS 7 mobile operating system officially rolled out today, and with it, the Siri assistant is finally out of beta. The most significant change to Siri is arguably that it no longer taps into Google for searches. As expected, a deal with Microsoft now makes Bing the default in Siri. Twitter also gets a […]
Apple Siri On Google Glass: “That Glass Is Half Empty”
The Verge noticed that if you ask Apple Siri about Google Glass, Siri will respond with some humorous responses. In short, if you activate Siri on your iOS device and say, “okay glass,” Apple Siri will respond in a witty way. Above are some of the responses in an animated GIF, but here they are […]
Google Brings More “Now” To Search With New Quick Answers
Google is bringing more of the capabilities of Google Now to the search box and providing a range of personalized “quick answers” regardless of platform. These new search capabilities focus on “travel and logistics” use cases: reservations, flights, package tracking and calendar entries, among a few others. The content and capabilities will likely expand over […]
“Trulia Suggests” Search Results Without Searching
One of the very interesting things going on in search is the phenomenon of “predictive search” or personalized recommendations based on a range of user data inputs (i.e., behavior, context, etc). Effectively, these are search results produced without entering a query into a search box. Much of what is happening in mobile and Google Now is […]
Ever Wanted To Be Siri? Apple Seeks A Writer
By now, everyone’s used to Siri’s wit. Tell her you love her, and Apple’s Siri digital assistant may respond that all you need is love — and an iPhone. Or that it will never work out. And she’s got jokes for a variety of other queries. But who’s the woman behind Siri? Or the man? […]
Google, Mobile Search And The Paradox Of Competition
How much does Google figure into the “future of search,” whose advances will largely be determined by mobile and non-traditional devices? That’s a hard question to answer. On the one hand Google is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) brand in the world, with almost unlimited resources to develop technology or buy companies […]
“Google Now” Moving Well Beyond Search, Becoming Mobile Assistant
Almost exactly three years ago then Google employee Marissa Mayer described “the perfect search engine” in an interview with IDG News. She said it would be one “that could understand speech, questions, phrases, what entities you’re talking about, concepts. It would be able to search all of the world’s information, [find] different ideas and concepts, […]
What’s The Best Smartphone? Google’s New iOS Search App Says Decide For Yourself
Got the new Google Search app on your iPhone or iPad? Here’s a trick. Ask it, “What’s the best smartphone?” The app will politely decline to say. The app will reply in one of two ways that I’ve found: “No one phone is right for everyone.” “You’ll have to decide for yourself.” Don’t have the […]
Nuance’s Nina Is Siri For Enterprise Customer Service
Although there were so-called “virtual assistants” before Siri, consumers had only limited experience with them and may not have even realized what they were dealing with at the time. United Airlines’ “virtual agent” Alex is one such automated assistant, though it doesn’t use speech and currently doesn’t work on mobile devices. At least a dozen […]
Report: Siri Coming To iPad With iOS 6
With its latest iPad — “the new iPad” — Apple introduced voice dictation capability (via Nuance) but not its virtual assistant Siri. Now comes a report that Siri will soon come to the iPad with the iOS 6 update, which is also supposed to mark the debut of Apple Maps/iMaps. Next week is Apple’s WWDC […]